Justification:
Listed as Least Concern as they are common through much of their wide range, present even in human-modified habitats, and feed opportunistically, so there is little reason to be believe they are currently threatened.

Widespread in sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and Gambia to the Horn of Africa, and then southwards to south-east South Africa (Taylor in press). Extralimital to the African continent, present along much of the coast of Saudi Arabia to Oman and also recorded from Farasan Kabir Island in the Red Sea, where they may have been introduced (Taylor in press). Ranges to 3,500 m asl in Ethiopia (Admasu et al. 2004).

Occurs in grasslands, savanna, and woodland areas, and absent from moist forested areas, high altitudes, desert and semi-desert (Taylor in press). They are adaptable to human-modified habitats, with individuals often found around towns and villages where they feed opportunistically on garbage (Taylor in press). In Oman they have been found associated with gardens and plantations (Harrison and Bates 1991). Primarily insectivorous.

There are no major threats to the species. They may be caught incidentally in predator control programmes principally aimed at Black-backed Jackal Canis mesomelas and Caracal Caracal caracal (Taylor in press).